Girls, Skeletons, And All Manner Of Other Things
by Valeria DeLourtes
Summary: A "brief" account of what I think the Marauders' years at Hogwarts would be like. James, Sirius and Remus find it easy to get distracted from their studies, but none of them know what deeper secrets lie within...JP/LE SB/OC RL/OC
1. Gilderoy's Inflated Ego

"James!" The elderly Mr. Potter called after his son, who had just taken off running towards Diagon Alley's Quality Quidditch Supplies, gazing longingly at the brooms on the other side of the glass.

"Oh dad, can I please?" The young boy looked at his father with pleading eyes as his parents drew nearer.

"First years aren't allowed, son. Come on, lets go visit Mr. Ollivander and get you a wand." The man had an arm around the shoulders of his wife, and reached out to take his son's hand.

The bell attached to the doorway of the wandmaker's shop sounded as the trio entered, and the owner walked out from a narrow corridor, full of boxes of magical wands. He eyed the small boy carefully, before speaking.

"James Potter…wonderful to see you…" James looked at the man in bewilderment, not knowing how he knew his name. "…Let's see.."

The man walked to one side of the shop, pulling a dusty box from a bottom shelf.

"Try this one. Twelve inches of Willow, a phoenix feather at the core." He held the wand out to James, who took it, swishing the wooden stick around like a sword. The man quickly removed it from the boys grasp. "No, no…before you take someone's eye out." The wand was replaced, and another handed to him. "Oak, 10 and a half inches, unicorn hair." However, swishing this wand around also gave no real result. The third wand however…

"Mahogany, Eleven inches. Excellent for transfiguration work."

James took the wand, and immediately felt a connection growing between the wood and his hand. He moved the wand in a swishing movement, leaving a trail of red, blue and green sparks in it's wake. He laughed in delight, as Mr. Ollivander clapped appreciatively.

The following week soon flew by, and before he knew it, James was sat alone inside a compartment aboard the Hogwarts Express. He gazed out of the window at the people on the platform, and waved to his parents as the train departed the station.

His attention then turned to watch the people passing in the corridor outside his compartment. He had been watching for several minutes before a boy peered in through the door cautiously, before entering. His hair was brown, and he looked thin and pale. "Can I…" he started.

"Yeah" James nodded, glad to have company. He put a hand to his jet black hair in an attempt to flatten it down in honour of his new companion, but had no good result. "I'm James, by the way."

"Remus." the boy smiled nervously as he sat down opposite James, turning his attention to look out of the window.

"So, what house do you want to be in?" James asked, trying to avoid any awkward silences.

"Oh!" the question appeared to take the other boy by surprise. "I haven't really thought about it, really. As long as I'm not in Slytherin…"

"Yeah…I wouldn't want to be in old Voldy's house." James said, with a casual air to his voice. Remus looked shocked and disturbed by the nickname for the dark lord, his mouth dropping open.

"I…um…"

"Sorry…anyway. I heard that Bellatrix Black's cousin is supposed to be starting this year."

"That's worrying, there's already two of them at school, my mum said that they're going down the same road as Bella-" Remus' sentence was cut off by the sound of someone yelling in the corridor outside. James reached for the door to the compartment, moving it open a little to hear the voices more clearly.

"Ah-ah-ow!" the boy was yelling, and Remus and James could hear another boy's laughter inbetween the cries of pain. James left his seat to stick his head out of the compartment, laughing slightly at the scene in front of him. A blonde haired boy was attempting to get his magically enlarged head back into the compartment in which his body was located. A smaller, black haired boy was stood just to the side, laughing with his wand out. He looked around, and noticed James looking.

"Finite Incantatem" the boy said, almost lazily, and the blonde head shrunk back to normal size, and the compartment door banged shut behind the boy. James moved back in to sit back down, and moments later, the black haired boy from the corridor entered the room, sitting down next to Remus.

"Sirius Black" he said, grinning.

"James Potter…what just-"

"Oh, that was Gilderoy Lockart, he's a third year. He reckons that because I'm a Black, I'll be just as bad as the rest. Apparently my cousin Narcissa - she's a fourth year - has been giving him hell for the last two years. Can't say I blame her, really." Sirius put his feet up on the seat next to James, making himself completely at home in their compartment. "And who are you?" he directed the question at Remus, who had returned to looking out of the window.

"Remus Lupin." he said, slowly and carefully, watching for Black's reaction.

"Lupin…I've heard that name before. Wasn't it your dad that-"

"Don't." Remus said quickly, preventing Sirius from finishing his sentence.

"Hey, now I think about it I…" James started.

"Drop it." Remus said sharply, before returning his gaze to the window.

The rest of the journey passed quickly, the three boys - well, mainly James and Sirius - talking about almost anything. Remus added in sentences here and there, but seemed to be brooding over something. The topic of his dad was dropped completely.

They soon arrived at Hogsmeade station, where the three of them got off the train, leaving their luggage behind as told over the train's intercom system, and stood out on the platform, looking around anxiously for a sign of where to go.

"Firs' years! Over 'ere, Firs' years!" a loud booming voice called over the heads of the students, and the three boys looked around.

"Whoa…" Remus was the only one to make a sound as they looked in awe at the giant man ahead of them. They began to walk towards him, fighting their way through the swarm of students on the platform.

"Come along there, you three" the man called to the boys, who seemed to be the last of the group to reach the man. "Righ', follow me".

They were lead along a path leading away from the station, eventually finding themselves stood along the side of a large lake. The castle that was Hogwarts stood some distance away, on the other side of the lake.

"Four to a boat, then." The man took a boat to himself, while the students climbed into the fleet of boats that were just away from the shore of the lake.

James, Sirius and Remus were followed into their boat by a small, rat-like boy who looked even paler and more nervous than Remus had the first time James met him.

The crossing of the lake didn't take long, and soon, the students were climbing out of their boats onto the grassy bank the other side. Peter Pettigrew, the boy who had joined James, Sirius and Remus, was holding a snake carefully in his hands. The man, who later revealed himself to be Rubeus Hagrid when asked by a greasy black-haired boy, lead the group to the door of the castle, which he banged hard three times with his giant fist.

A tall, stern looking woman pulled the left hand door back, standing in the doorway for a few seconds, only to invite the students to follow her, before leading them into the large entrance hall and then off to a side chamber. Once all the first years had assembled in the room, she gave a short speech.

"Welcome" she began, "to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall. In a few moments, the Sorting Ceremony will begin, and you will be placed into one of four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin."

At this point, James could have sworn he saw Sirius, who was stood beside him, give a slight smirk at the sound of the name of the last house. McGonagall continued.

"However, you would all do well to remember that whilst divided into your houses, each and every student is here for the same reason, and has that in common." she surveyed the students through her square spectacles. "I will return when we are ready for you."

As the woman swept out of the room, Sirius turned to James and Remus.

"All of my family have been in Slytherin. I think I might ask the sorting hat to put me there. I know," he added, seeing the looks on the other two boy's faces "but maybe I should…well, I mean…"

James nodded to show Sirius that he knew what he meant. Upholding family traditions and pride was a big thing in wizarding families, although the Potter's would expect their son to be in Gryffindor.

Peter, meanwhile, had been talking to a pale boy, with greasy dark hair, animatedly about the pet snake he was holding.

"I called her Naga, it means cobra in Indian." he said, smiling as he looked at his snake. "Dad says I have to be careful though, he says the person that he bought her off warned him of the venom in her fangs and-". The rush of his voice was cut off as the woman had returned.


	2. The Sorting Hat's Prediction

"Please form an orderly line, and follow me to the great hall." as the students shuffled into place, she cast her gaze over them all, before turning on her heel to lead them from the room.

The Professor lead them through the large double doors leading to the great hall, which had been opened by the caretaker, and walked them down the middle of the room, between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, to the very opposite end of the hall, just in front of the staff table. There was a slightly raised platform on which the staff table was placed, and on the platform was a stool, on which stood a particularly shabby looking hat. McGonagall stepped up onto the platform, standing next to the hat, and tapped the tip of it with her wand. Immediately, the hat began to half sing, half talk, out of a rip in the base. It recited a long song, which detailed the virtues acknowledged by each house, but it also mentioned something else. It spoke of a forthcoming danger, and a growing secret organisation. It soon finished, and McGonagall unravelled a scroll of parchment, from which she began reading names.

"Archimago, Michael" was the first name. A tiny boy with sandy coloured hair walked nervously to the stool where he sat, and McGonagall placed the hat on his head. After a few moments had past, the boy was the first student sorted into Ravenclaw that year.

There were very few A's, and before he knew it, it was Sirius' turn. He walked up to the stool, oozing confidence, and sat as the hat was placed on his head. He could hear a small voice talking to him.

"Hmm, another Black. But not so similar to his cousins…Gryffindor!" the last word was shouted to the room, and Sirius made his way to the Gryffindor table, looking slightly disappointed but, James noticed, slightly pleased.

Remus and Peter were both sorted into Gryffindor, and James followed shortly after.

James and Remus joined Sirius, but Peter did too - he didn't seem to have spoken to anyone else, for the greasy haired boy he had been talking to - his name, they discovered, was Severus Snape - had been sorted into Slytherin house.

During the feast, two girls came over to speak to Sirius. One was tall, and had long, white-blonde hair and the other had shoulder-length mousy brown hair, and was a fair bit shorter than her companion.

"Sirius, I hope you understand that you have just let the side down considerably" the blonde-haired girl said.

"Oh, Narcissa, just because I'm braver than you." He grinned up at her, before looking at the other girl. "Andromeda" he smiled "I see you've changed your nose a fair bit since I last saw you."

Narcissa had scrunched up her nose at Sirius' comment, replying with "We'll see who's laughing next year.". She had spoke in a knowing, if slightly icy, tone, before walking back to the Slytherin table.

Andromeda and Sirius continued speaking for a while, before she disappeared back to her table, but James barely noticed. He didn't even notice Peter taking some chicken scraps from his plate, because he was busy staring down the table.

"It's rude to stare." Remus said, with a slightly amused note in his voice, as he followed James' eyes. Soon, all four boys were looking down the table.

"Why didn't I see her earlier?" James wondered aloud, sounding as if he was in the middle of a particularly good daydream.

"You were probably dazzled by McGonagall's beauty" Sirius said, sarcastically, with a grin still on his face. James looked at him, and flicked potato at him with his fork. "Hey, do you have any idea how long it took to get my hair looking like his?" more potato. "You little-"

"Shh!" Peter had butted in, pointing towards the staff table, where the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had stood up to speak.

"To our new students, welcome, and the older, welcome back, to a new year at Hogwarts. Now that we have all been fed and watered, I see only fit to allow you to retire to your dorm rooms. Prefects will lead the way to each common room. Goodnight, to all of you. Rest well, a new year always brings new challenges." His beard twitched from a smile, and at once the room was filled with the sound of talking and benches scraping the floor as students moved to go up to bed.

"I'm going to go and send my parents an owl." James said. "Let them know I got in."

"I'd say I'll come with, but I don't think mother" Sirius said the last word bitterly "would be very pleased".

"Well, I'm coming." Remus said. "I need to ask my dad something anyway."

The three of them looked around, and Peter had already scurried off to the dorm rooms.

"We'll be about twenty minutes, I suppose." James said, and Sirius nodded, before leaving in the direction of the Gryffindor common room with the rest of the crowd.

"What is his family, royalty?" Remus asked, although it wasn't directed at anyone.

"Pure-blood pride." James said, as the pair of them began to walk to the owlery. "All of his ancestors were in Slytherin, so they're dead against half-bloods and muggle-borns…dunno about Sirius though."

"Sirius," a cold, female voice said from behind them, "never did fit in with…us."

The two boys turned around to see Narcissa, the blonde girl who had spoken to Sirius at the dinner table. She was stood with another boy, who appeared slightly older than her, but had the same blonde hair, but he had cold, grey eyes.

"Well I'm glad he doesn't, I know the people you associate yourselves with, having-" Remus stopped himself mid sentence, and the boy with Narcissa had a strange, knowing expression on his face.

"Ah…you must be the half-blood Lupin" a sly, unpleasant smile appeared on his face "you're quite a…name, in our house, I must say…"

"C'mon, James" Remus said, grabbing James' arm and walking through a doorway concealed behind a tapestry. They found themselves in a deserted corridor, that was dimly lit by a few candles. It seemed as if it hadn't been in use for a very long time.

"What was that all about?" James asked, rubbing his arm slightly where Remus had grabbed it.

"Doesn't matter…do you get the feeling that we shouldn't really…be here?"

"Yeah…but it's got to go somewhere, right?" He began to walk down the corridor, footsteps echoing where it was so empty.

"I'm going to the Owlery." Remus stated, turning to walk back through the entrance, where he met the blonde boy's sneering face.

"Thought you of all people would be accustomed to darkness by now, Lupin…"

This comment made Lupin retreat back into the passageway, quickening his steps to catch up with James.

"Nevermind." he said, and the two of them followed the corridor with each turn it made, and walked up the steep staircase they found at the end. They pushed open the door and found them in a large, hexagonal room, the walls of which were lined with owls. "Owlery?" Remus asked, looking around at all of the animals.

"I guess so…" James said, walking towards one of the walls, and picking out an owl to send a message to his parents, before releasing it through the large window opposite the door.

Remus walked over to the window, also releasing his chosen owl, before turning to look back at the door.

"it's…gone…"

"What?" James also turned around, and found himself looking across the room at a blank wall. He looked around the rest of the room, wondering if they were simply disorientated. "Well look…there's another door over there."

The pair of them walked to the door, and went through it, finding themselves in the same corridor that they entered the passageway from - only they were face to face with the tapestry they had walked through.

"Weird." Remus said, before the two boys headed in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, where they found Sirius, waiting for them outside, arms crossed, and looking thoroughly bored.

"You took your time." he said as they approached, before turning to say the password (Flitterbloom), and the three of them walked into the common room.

"Yeah, we bumped into your cousin, and there was this boy with her who-"

"I'm going to bed." Remus said, cutting across James' sentence. He left, the two boys watching after him, before James finished.

"Anyway, he was saying something to Remus about how he's some sort of household name or something."

"He's a half-blood, a Slytherin would say that." Sirius said, with a slight bitter undertone in his voice.

"It wasn't that, there was something else…Remus removed us from the pair of them, I think, maybe before the boy said something else…" James frowned slightly. "You're…well, you would know?"

Sirius shook his head quickly - too quickly, almost. "Let's go to bed." he said, starting up the stairs, and James, not wanting to be left in the common room on his own, followed.

The next morning, at breakfast, James and Remus had received to answer to their letters to their parents, but still found an owl swooping down on the table in front of them. It walked along the table and dropped a red, sealed envelope in front of Sirius, who stared at it in horror.


	3. Mrs Black's Red Letter

"Everyone's going to hear it anyway." Peter, who had sat himself with the three boys, mentioned this quietly.

With a shaking hand, Sirius opened the envelope, and began to read it. However, he only got to "Sirius Black", before the letter began reading itself aloud.

"Sirius Black! How COULD You have been placed in Gryffindor, after all that our family stands for!" The shrieking female voice seemed to be growing louder with each word. "Associating with filthy mud bloods already!" Remus looked away at this point. "Your father and I are extremely disappointed in you! A Black mark in the Black History, how dare you!"

The paper began smoking at the edges, before eventually setting itself on fire, finishing in a pile of ashes on the table. Sirius was staring at the small pile, shock mixed with disgust on his face.

"C'mon, we shouldn't be late for-" Peter started, but James had already rushed off to potions class. Not out of excitement for the subject, but because he had just noticed the girl from the previous night leave the Gryffindor table in that direction.

"Hey! Hey…wait!" he called after her, jogging slightly to catch up.

"What?" she said, whipping her head around to face him, her long red hair sweeping through the air where she had moved so quickly.

"I-I…um…what class do you have?" James asked the first thing that came into his head.

"Um, potions" she said, ignoring the giggling friend stood next to her.

James nodded, and watched her as she walked away in the direction of the potions classroom. After a few minutes, Remus, Peter and Sirius caught up with him.

"Smooth" Sirius said, "Real smooth."

James rolled his eyes, and the four of them set off towards the same classroom.

"Welcome, First years, to your first Potions lesson. I am Professor Slughorn." the man paused, and James disguised his snort at the sound of the name as a suspicious-sounding cough. "Now, who can tell me what a pepper-up potion does?"

"Does it - cure the common cold?" James' attention snapped to the girl who had answered, finding it to be the red head he had spoken to before class.

"Very good, 10 points for Gryffindor, I think. Miss…er…"

"Evans, Professor."

"Ah, excellent…excellent. Moving on then, please turn to page five of your textbooks, and correctly brew this potion for me. 50 points to the house the best potions' brewer is in."

James, who was sat between Remus and Sirius was not concentrating on his potion, as he was starting across the room with an ugly look on his face. He didn't even notice Remus grabbing his hand as he went to put wrong ingredients into his cauldron.

Across the room, the boy James was staring at was pouring over his textbook, carefully adding each ingredient to his cauldron, so as not to make any mistakes.

James took his wand from his pocket carefully, switching his stare from the boy only to check where the Professor was, before moving his wand in a sideways motion, muttering an incantation under his breath.

The greasy haired boy desperately attempted to prevent his ingredients from falling into his cauldron, but with no luck.

The liquid he had been mixing turned liquorice black, and hissed with grey steam, that spread out above the heads of the class.

"Severus…" Slughorn said, shaking his head at the boy, "And I had such high hopes for you…"

The boy stood up dramatically, his face hidden behind the curtain of black hair, and ran from the room, making a sound that could only be identified as sobbing.

"More like Snivellus…" James heard Sirius mutter beside him. "Nice work, Potter." he had turned to grin at James, who quickly pointed his wand at himself, muttering 'Silencio', and therefore allowing himself to laugh freely without getting caught.

"Your girlfriend doesn't seem amused." Remus said, his own voice tainted with amusement. James leaned to him to hit his harm, before looking over at the girl, who quickly turned away. "She was scowling at you."

Remus then pointed his own wand at James, releasing the spell, allowing him to talk freely again.

"I don't care." he said, looking down at his potion. "Damn, it's almost as bad as his."

The three of them started laughing again, and didn't hear Slughorn complimenting the girl Evans on her 'superb' potion.

The class ended, Gryffindor having gained a further 50 points.

"You lot go on, I'll see you in charms." Remus said, and the other three boys turned, leaving the dungeon classroom with the rest of the class.

"Professor," Remus began, walking towards Slughorn once that classroom was empty. "I was wondering if you could help me…"

"Will this take long? I have some business with the Headmaster to attend to-"

"It's just that" Remus interrupted him, "I have a small…problem. And I was wondering if there was any kind of remedy…see there's this thing that happens every full moon and…"

"Ah! You must be Lupin's boy. Fenrir Greyback, wasn't it?" Remus nodded. "Unfortunately there's nothing to be done about it yet."

"Thankyou anyway sir. I'll be going now." He turned to leave, swinging his bag on his shoulder.

"Lupin, you would do well to tell you friends." The man called after him, but whether Remus heard him or not, he did not know.

Remus apologised quickly to Professor Flitwick for being late, and sat down on the other side of Peter - Sirius was sat on the other side.

"So what was that all about?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing…what're we doing?" Remus replied, hoping to distract anymore questions. He succeeded, as the three other boys didn't push the subject any further.

James looked at the needle on the desk in front of him.

"Making stuff bigger." he prodded the needle with his wand, attempting to work the spell.

"Someone should use it on him." Sirius added, nodding towards the Professor. Remus grinned appreciatively, before turning to start work on his own needle.

They only looked up when they heard their teacher squeaking on the other side of the room. Laughter was sweeping through the room as more students saw what had happened - someone had accidentally mis-pronounced the incantation, and as a result, their teeth had grown to 4 times their natural size, and were still growing.

"Miss Prewett, would you escort this young lady to the hospital wing" he squeaked, before announcing that class is dismissed.

"Not a bad first few lessons." James said, thoughtfully, as the four of them - Peter still trailing behind - walked through the corridors to the courtyard at break.

"You're not the boy I thought you were, Potter." Sirius said. "Potions was entertaining…Snivellus…" he laughed slightly at the memory.

"Life's a different game now." James replied. "no parents…almost a free world." he grinned slightly.

"Anyway, Remus…are you gonna tell us what you wanted with Slughorn yet?"


	4. Tabby's Allowance

**So, i've put up this chapter because i've seen that a few of you have added it to your favourites.**

**I'm not going to start begging for reviews but a few would be nice, simply to know that it's a little more appreciated..=] **

**For those of you that have read so far - thanks =] **

* * *

It was nearing Christmas already, the past 3 months having flown by. The four boys were now almost inseparable - meaning they had even accepted Peter into their little group. Not to say they didn't have friends outside that circle - they did, James and Sirius especially.

Remus and Sirius were sat in armchairs by the common room fire, as James and Peter were lead on the floor, playing wizards chess to pass the Saturday morning. For the fourth time, James' side had one, so he decided to call it a day where that activity was concerned.

"Peter, you're never gonna win." James said, a slightly cocky grin on his face. He looked up at the other two. "Let's explore."

The four boys got up, leaving through the portrait entrance, and starting off down a corridor.

"Remus…" Peter started, carefully. "If we can find a deserted, quiet, area…will you tell us where you've been disappearing to once a month?"

Remus seemed to consider this proposition. "I can take you there." he said, a thoughtful tone in his voice. "Tonight…I'll have to go by myself tomorrow night."

The other three stared at him. A frown passed over James' face before he spoke.

"Remus…tomorrow night's…"

"I'm meeting someone there." he said, sharply, a slightly worried look in his eye. James then shrugged, and they agreed that they would go with Remus that night, allowing him freedom the night after.

Later, around Eleven-thirty at night, when the rest of the students in the common room had left for bed, the four of them got up from their spaces or chairs, and left quietly through the portrait entrance, being careful not to wake the Fat Lady.

They crept through the castle, keeping to the shadows, Remus leading the way. He began to walk down towards the main doors, when James grabbed hold of his shoulder to hold him back.

"Turn left." he whispered. "there's a way to get out on the third floor."

Remus nodded to show that he understood, and they turned left, still keeping close into the shadows. They soon approached a statue that was alone on a third-floor corridor. James moved past Remus to the statue and pulled out his wand.

"Dissendium" he muttered, tapping the statue's hump with his wand. The hinges that were previously concealed creaked slightly as the hump opened.

"How'd you…" Peter started, before Sirius quickly hushed him.

"We gotta be quiet…I'll go first." He said, before climbing into the statue, and sliding down the passage way. He was shortly followed by James, then Remus, and then Peter, who closed the hump of the statue as he slid.

"Where are we?" Remus said, looking around as they all got up and dusted themselves off.

"Look…" James said, walking towards a ladder. He climbed up, pushing open the trap door that was above him. "…Honeyduke's cellar."

The other three walked over, peering up through the gap James had just opened. They descended up the ladder, climbing up onto the floor above them, before walking up another flight of stairs which connected the cellar to the shop itself.

"And how do we get out now?" Remus said, looking at James questioningly. It was late, so the shop was closed and locked up.

Sirius walked over to the main door, using 'Alohomora' to try and open the door. When it didn't open, he was clearly frustrated, but then pulled a knife from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and the door clicked open. He grinned as the others walked out past him, before closing the door, locking it again with his knife, before putting it back in his pocket.

"So where'd you get that?" James asked, as they began walking down the street, Remus leading the way to his hiding place.

"Oh…it was my dads. You've probably heard how almost my whole family are obsessed with being pure-blood and the dark arts. Welcome to my childhood." he grinned slightly. "I know a lot of stuff I shouldn't."

"And less of what you should." said a disapproving female voice from behind them. James and Sirius spun around in unison to find themselves face-to-face with Professor McGonagall.

"Please Professor" Remus began, when he and Peter had turned a few seconds after the other two. "I wanted to show them where - well - because of tomorrow - and I…" he trailed off.

"Be that as it may, Lupin, I am removing twenty house points from each of you. Out of bounds in the middle of the night! Your parents will be hearing from me about this. However." she paused. "I will not send you back to the school immediately…yet if I have even a scrap of evidence that the four of you have been anywhere in Hogsmeade aside from - Lupin, you know. Then I shall be forced to reconsider disciplinary measures." She turned on her heel, striding away in the direction of the school.

"Right." James said, when Remus had led them to their destination - a very old, run down looking house that was cordoned off from the rest of the village by a fence. "I think it's about time you explained what's going on - and why McGonagall let us off like that."

"Why the bloody hell would you want to keep coming here?" Sirius added, looking around at the damp on the walls, showing where the wallpaper was peeling off, and creaking a floorboard by moving his foot slightly on it.

"You know how this place became known as the Shrieking Shack back in…oh, September." Remus started, walking to the old, moth-bitten bed in the corner of the room. The others nodded, and he took a breath to continue. "I um, well…Fenrir Greyback-"

"the werewolf?" Peter interjected, snapping his head around to look at Remus.

"Yeah, that's him. Well anyway, around 6 years ago now, so when I was five, he tried to get some information out of my dad…" he looked at them all, wondering if they'd worked it out yet. When no one spoke, expecting him to continue, he did so. "but he refused. And well, Greyback wanted revenge so…"

"You're a werewolf?" James asked, watching for Remus' response, which came in the form of a nod. Remus was now looking extremely pale and nervous, waiting for any response from the others, James and Sirius simply shrugged, and Peter only made the slightest noise, which came out as more of a squeak.

Then Sirius started to laugh. No one else, bar James, seemed to find the situation amusing - the latter was attempting not to laugh, though the corners of his mouth were twitching slightly.

"Oh - those…poor…villagers…" Sirius said between laughs. "Remus…they think this place is…haunted…"

James finally gave in to his battle against his own laughter , and the other two soon joined in - outside, on the other side of the fence, late-night passers by stopped and looked in wonder as to why the source of mystery in the village was now emitting laughter as opposed to other haunting sounds.


End file.
